Hi just saw that NPOAEG released a full steel aeg airsoft AK12. For you who don't know what an AK12 is; it is Russias next standard assault rifle replacing the AK74m.

This is what npoaeg ak12 looks like

I think I heard about it a year ago and really liked the futuristic look. I was also impressed that it was released before the real thing made a real entry. But I guess there is a downside with being too fast. About 6 months ago the Russians declared that they will not adopt the AK12. Instead they will go for the AK12. Confused? Actually they changed the general design of the gun more or less completely but kept the name AK12. See old prototype above and new design lower.

This makes this new release just an odd prototype rather then the next standard AR of the Russian army. Kind of a let down if you ask me. I wonder if they will produce the real AK12 too? I guess now they more or less have to, right?

NPO are basing there design on the GEN2 AK12 where the Russians might adopt the GEN3. The original GEN1 looks like this:

Externally the changes are cosmetic and the rifle is still based on the original AK design. The concept was to bring the AK74 design into the 21st century. This included fixing the top cover in place so that optics would hold zero, make the fire controls more ergonomic, have ambi controls, use polymer furniture where possible and fit RIS rails for 21st century atachments.

And then there's the AK74m upgrade kit which adds a retractable stock, fixed dust cover, ris rails, etc and is already in service. I will believe the AK12 has been adopted when Russian troops are shown using it combat in numbers.

The plastic furniture looks like SRU 3D printed models. I guess they didn't have the capital to invest in expensive injection molding tooling, which is perfectly understandable for such a niche product.
Maybe they should have finished the surfaces differently ?
I don't know...

I'm surprise they didn't manage to source real furniture to go with their NPO products, instead they keep using what I suspect are casts, the level of detail is very poor I suspect due to the mold wearing as the batch goes on. For what they charge and how well machined their steel is, going with anything but real steel furniture isn't satisfactory.

I'm surprise they didn't manage to source real furniture to go with their NPO products, instead they keep using what I suspect are casts, the level of detail is very poor I suspect due to the mold wearing as the batch goes on. For what they charge and how well machined their steel is, going with anything but real steel furniture isn't satisfactory.

This.

I get that they make small production runs but the crappy 'cast out of a 3d printed mold which we didn't even try to acetone vapour smoothen' plastics - which on the first VAL AEGs were not even plastic but resin - are totally unacceptable for the prices they are asking.

Plus, watch the RedWolf product video:

The fake bolt literally hits the hop-up adjustment lever, so you can't let it go forward unless you want to break your hop up unit, you have to bend the hop-up lever into the gun first.

On an $800USD AEG.

They couldn't make a slimmer hop-up lever.

On an $800USD AEG.

Let's not even get onto the lack of a detent for the selectors, so there's no defined 'spot' where the selector will sit in any fire mode, or the fact that the selectors are way too stiff to move properly, or the fact that the shimming sounds utterly abysmally tight, or the lack of a mosfet and a proper burst mode...

Sigh, always makes me sad that most of these "premium" Kalashs and other pattern rifles remain subpar compared to their armalite competitors, considering how robust the version 3 gearbox is.

"In our hearts we- have done good and bad... we have exchanged fire, at both military and civilian during conflict. We have been around the world since our time in the red sand of Afghanistan. We have been waiting for war. Waiting, waiting. War is all we love" Kapitan Balalaika

"Hotel Moscow will show no mercy to anything in its way. We will reject it and annihilate it. Family, friends, even the pet dog if necessary."

just and FYI but Nuprol are also releasing one soonish (but you didnt hear it from me )

a worrying collection of 'authentic' and repro Nazi badges and other paraphenalia. Felt like i was in Mel Gibson's house, all it needed was a few posters of himself and a few other questionable things and it could have been.'FireKnife'

You do for the budget lines, but when it reaches the very high end, you have less choices. Hopefully now that the AK PTW and KSC AK ERGs are out, we might start to see more innovation, what we need is KSC's ERG system inside a real sword / E&L body, or at the very least, LCT.

You do for the budget lines, but when it reaches the very high end, you have less choices. Hopefully now that the AK PTW and KSC AK ERGs are out, we might start to see more innovation, what we need is KSC's ERG system inside a real sword / E&L body, or at the very least, LCT.

Fair point, find the LCT/E&L roughly on par. Real sword is another level, but haven't seen much of their stuff in stock anywhere. They also seem to have stopped development of newer offerings.

Just wondering for everyone who isn't happy that the ak12 doesn't use real furniture. How would they even get real furniture for a prototype rifle? I can't imagine there's stockpiles of the stuff laying around.

I thought they were out of prototype phase a few years ago? But in any case, it isn't exclusively about this rifle, NPO has produced replicas with very good steel bodies, but very poor resin cast furniture for their other models too. As for how one would even go about getting real steel furniture, that's not really a question the consumers have to answer, the same way I don't question how Real Sword make their stuff with real steel furniture, I just appreciate it for the price tag they demand, and IMO, NPO is the closest thing to Real Sword on Russian replicas, and they seem to have had access to real steel counterparts at least during the design phase, they have contacts, so the expectation for it isn't unreasonable, whether or not it's achievable is a different story.